hey, i would like to share with you about my passion for the Old Testament (OT). my students call me 'rabbi' or 'reb' for short.
the reb's passion in life (apart from God and wife and family) is the OT.
the reb used to teach the OT in a seminary. he also does a lot of weekend teaching and preaching in churches. and he writes and authored 9 books...
email: aloke6@gmail.com

Friday, 13 August 2010

Caerleon Discovery

About Caerleon

Caerleon was known to the Romans as Isca and the fortress there was the headquarters of the Second Augustan Legion - part of the invasion force that crossed the English Channel in AD 43 which would later spend a generation fighting against the fierce Celtic tribes of Wales. Legionaries were Roman citizen soldiers, heavily armoured and highly disciplined, who enlisted for up to 25 years. The backbone of the army and builders of the Roman Empire, legionaries were conquerors, builders and colonists.

Caerleon is one of only three permanent legionary fortresses in Britain. The others at Chester and York are much more difficult to excavate because their remains are mostly buried under medieval and modern cities. Therefore, Caerleon provides a unique opportunity to study the Roman legions in Britain.

Sam Steele an undergraduate archaeologist in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion was one of the students involved in the discovery

The serendipity of discovery

Students from the School of History, Archaeology and Religion were learning how to use geophysical equipment in fields outside the fortress during the Easter break when they unexpectedly made their remarkable discovery. This part of Caerleon was not thought to have been extensively occupied in the Roman period, but the students and their tutors revealed the outlines of a series of huge buildings located outside Caerleon’s famous amphitheatre and the River Usk.

Thursday, 12 August 2010

Archaeologists working in Tel Kedesh in northern Israel have uncovered an extremely rare 2,200-year-old gold coin, minted in Alexandria by King Ptolemy V.

The head of the Coin Department of the Israel Antiquities Association, long-time American immigrant Dr. Donald T. Ariel, said, “This is the heaviest and most valuable ancient gold coin ever found in an excavation in Israel.” The coin depicts a queen, believed to be Arsinoe II Philadelphus, who was married to her half-brother Ptolemy II. It is possible, however, that it may actually be Ptolemy V's wife Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus III."

The excavations at Tel Kedesh, near Israel's border with Lebanon, are being carried out by the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota.“This is an amazing numismatic find," Dr. Ariel said. "The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation. It is the heaviest gold coin with the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel, weighing almost an ounce," or 27.7 grams, compared with 4.5 grams for most ancient gold coins.In Ariel’s words, “This extraordinary coin was apparently not in popular or commercial use, but had a symbolic function, possibly related to a festival in honor of Queen Arsinoe, who was deified in her lifetime." The coin's denomination is called a mnaieion, meaning a one-mina coin, and is equivalent to 100 silver drachms, or a mina of silver.

Uncovered: Heaviest Gold Coin Ever Found in Israel

by Hillel Fendel

Archaeologists working in Tel Kedesh in northern Israel have uncovered an extremely rare 2,200-year-old gold coin, minted in Alexandria by King Ptolemy V.

The head of the Coin Department of the Israel Antiquities Association, long-time American immigrant Dr. Donald T. Ariel, said, “This is the heaviest and most valuable ancient gold coin ever found in an excavation in Israel.” The coin depicts a queen, believed to be Arsinoe II Philadelphus, who was married to her half-brother Ptolemy II. It is possible, however, that it may actually be Ptolemy V's wife Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus III."

The excavations at Tel Kedesh, near Israel's border with Lebanon, are being carried out by the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota.
“This is an amazing numismatic find," Dr. Ariel said. "The coin is beautiful and in excellent preservation. It is the heaviest gold coin with the highest contemporary value of any coin ever found in an excavation in Israel, weighing almost an ounce," or 27.7 grams, compared with 4.5 grams for most ancient gold coins.
In Ariel’s words, “This extraordinary coin was apparently not in popular or commercial use, but had a symbolic function, possibly related to a festival in honor of Queen Arsinoe, who was deified in her lifetime." The coin's denomination is called a mnaieion, meaning a one-mina coin, and is equivalent to 100 silver drachms, or a mina of silver.